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Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Bail Pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in Delhi Riots Case

The decision follows arguments on whether protest speeches can be treated as a terrorist conspiracy under UAPA.

Overview

  • A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N. V. Anjaria reserved the order after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, ASG S. V. Raju and senior advocates for the accused.
  • The court permitted both sides to file any additional documents by December 18 before it delivers the ruling.
  • Delhi Police opposed bail, calling the 2020 violence an orchestrated, pre-planned attack on national sovereignty and citing speeches and WhatsApp chats as evidence.
  • Defence counsel argued there are no overt acts linking the accused to violence, said speeches cannot by themselves attract UAPA, and noted over five years of undertrial custody.
  • Separately, Umar Khalid has sought interim bail from December 14 to 29 to attend his sister’s December 27 wedding, with the Karkardooma court set to hear the plea on December 11.